For years, used their dial-up internet service "rated" at about 55.0 KB. Not fast but good enough for what I do.

In the last year or so, I noted that the speed frpm a 773 phone to a 312 connection was dropping below 50 KB, maybe 45 - 47 KB.

We recently located to area code 708. Dialing from a 708 phone to a 708 connection a few miles away, the speed is about 28 KB, about half of the rated speed. What's worst, I've had it as low as 18 - 20 KB.

To make matters worst, I found out that I'm paying about $9.25 a month more for their crummy service than do their new sign-ups!

And, if I change, I have a lot of choices for wire- or fiber optics-based service - either AT&T or Comcast.

I only use Earthlink for email service because the email address I have has beenwith them so long and it would be a royal pain to change it and pass a new addressaround. (I pay an annual fee for two email accounts for me and my wife) If you have access to faster connections, and can justify the expense, I would gofor that in a heartbeat. I switched to DSL several years ago and have never lookedback. There is just no comparison between dialup and DSL, fiber and other high speedinternet connections. Even the slowest speeds offered by some DSL providers is so muchfaster that it is worth the extra money. And depending on where you live, it may not bethat much more expensive. Some cable companies offer bundles with cable tv that makehaving high speed internet with it, a no-brainer. jamesWD5GWY

I recently moved out of Chicago to a south suburb. When I was in Chicago I found WOW to be the best provider for many reasons. If you do go to cable, I would suggest WOW. I cannot have WOW in my prsent neighborhood and have ATT and have many problems. Many neighbors have Comcast and have problems. WOW seems to maintain their system better then the others.Lane--K9MOV

I had a dial-up account with Earthlink for several years, and it was always a sheer nightmare trying to get service from them. They would keep you on the phone for hours, trying this and that-- their DSL upgrade service never did work.

When I learned that AT& T Uverse was available in my area, I jumped at the chance. It's been a good experience. If there's trouble, they will only keep you on the phone for 15 minutes or so, and then send out a technician if the problem is not resolved. Their technicians are well trained and competent and they fix things.

ATT u verse like earthlink cable leases "pipe" space from Time Warner cable. I have received excellent tech support when needed. I am on my 4th modem now just replaced recently. I have ability go to a Time Warner center near by and exchange modems same day on spot for free or can weight for a free service call.

Logged

--------------------------------------Ham since 1969.... Old School 20 WPM Extra

I think the problem lies with your phone line and not the provider. How far are you located from the CO? Way back when I used dial up, I would get 53.3K connections all the tme. Then I moved all of 3 miles across town, and the best I could do was 1200 baud! Even a genuine Hayes external modem would only manage a 2400 baud connection about 10% of the time.

I called in a trouble report to Verizon, and they dispatched a tech to check out the line. He checked out the line and found it to be within normal specs for a voice line. I asked him if there was anything else hat could be done, as I needed a faster dial-up connection for my job (Politeness is the key to dealing with these guys). hHe said he would check into it and left.

A few hours later he called back and asked me to try the modem again. BINGO- 53.3K! It turns out my phone line was a copper run all the way back to the CO. The tech switched me over to a digital distribution box (SLIC) about a mile down the road from me, and the connections popped right back to 53.3K! Since all the send/receive levels were fine on the original line, I guess there was just too much phase distortion in 5+ miles of copper to support anything above 1200 baud.

if you used to be 57 Kb and are now under 28 Kb after a move, the telco equipment is likely a major part of your issues. full V.42bis type speeds come with a normally loaded line direct to the voice switch.

half that or less likely means you have a DLC (digital loop carrier) or "pairgain" multiplexed system between you and the voice switch. DLCs typically cram twice the expected 24 voice-band channels onto the same T1 carrier channels back to the voice switch. that means half the bandwidth is gone with the engineering.

if you have creepy wire in the ground, you could sink as badly as 5 to 9 Kb. same if your pairs have been "unloaded" of the compensating 88 mH load coils, which is now done to make more locations suitable for DSL service. coils are nominally placed at 6000 foot intervals, typically at 3 Kfeet, 9 Kfeet, 15 Kfeet, etc. unloaded, at 9 Kfeet you have the voice quality and volume noticeably deteriorating already. the parallel load coils correct for the signal skew of the wire capacitance over that distance and fix response issues as well as signal distortion in the voice band. coils kill faster services like a nail in coax.

if dialup, slow enough beyond today's net already, goes that subpar, check for DSL service. in some locations with some carriers, you might be able to keep your ISP. typically not on the high-speed stuff 5 meg and up because it's usually on fiber backbones, falling under different FCC regulations where a telco can't be forced to share the service with competive resellers.

the chances that you can be cut off pairgain to direct voice pairs is slightly less than "freaking heck no, no way, son."

Copyright 2000-2017 eHam.net, LLC
eHam.net is a community web site for amateur (ham) radio operators around the world.
Contact the site with comments or questions.
WEBMASTER@EHAM.NETSite Privacy Statement